As traditional fossil fuels and other hydrocarbon-based energy sources become more scarce and, in turn, more costly, a wave of alternative energy ideas have been devised. However, generally because of cost and complexity concerns, these ideas are rarely implemented. Often, cities and municipalities, the very institutions struggling the most with energy costs, are in the best position to create and harness alternative energy.
As such, one untapped resource for alternative energy generation and storage exists in the form of the energy stored by the millions of moving vehicles traveling the world's highways every day. The kinetic energy of each moving vehicle is the energy which the vehicle possesses due to its motion. The work required to accelerate a particular vehicle with a particular mass from rest to a particular velocity precisely defines the kinetic energy of that vehicle. It takes little explanation to emphasize the sheer number of cars and, thus, the sheer amount of mass and (if harnessed) potential energy moving about the world's highways every day. Capturing even a small percentage of this energy would be a boon to relieve the stress on traditional energy sources.
Systems for capturing kinetic energy from a moving vehicle have been described in the art. Many of these systems utilize motioned mechanical or direct hydraulic means for harnessing and then transferring the energy. In general, these systems suffer disadvantages. Mechanical arrangements create large variations in the road bed surface which cause a bumpy ride and uncomfortable sensation in the overpassing vehicle. Direct hydraulic mechanisms often operate without a storage tank, and further, require some type of hydraulic fluid to be passed throughout the system.
Additionally, any storage of the harnessed energy, if even contemplated by the prior art, is often inefficient and subject to energy loss. Thus, there is a need for an efficient and cost-effective method of creating and storing alternatively-created energy.